Apr 28, 20234 min read

FRIDAY FIVE : THE COMMUNITY SHELTER IS OPEN!

This blog provides the top 5 highlights or updates about Family Promise of Waukesha County for Friday, April 28, 2023.

The Friday Five is a weekly update that focuses on the 5 main things happening at Family Promise Waukesha County. We also look for ways to advocate and educate about family homelessness. It is our hope that it will help you stay informed and connected to the mission of Family Promise of Waukesha County.

Our mission is to help low-income families and families experiencing homelessness achieve sustainable independence

through a community-based response.

The stories you can read this week are:

HAPPENING NOW!
COMMUNITY SHELTER UPDATE
GOLF OUTING REGISTRATION IS OPEN
WELCOME NEW STAFF AND BOARD MEMBERS
SPOTLIGHT ON NONPROFITS

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

A Saturday training session and then organizing the Community Shelter.

POLL OF THE WEEK

Living a simpler less materialistic life would be helpful for me and impact those in poverty in a positive way?

1. HAPPENING NOW:

REFORMATION EVANGELICAL RUMMAGE SALE

The annual Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dousman Rummage Sale is happening now! Stop in and check out a wide variety of items and great deals. All proceeds benefit Family Promise of Waukesha County. Please share this information far and wide.

See the graphic for location, days and times.

Thank you to the dedicated volunteers at Reformation for the months of hard work and commitment to helping families experiencing homelessness.

2. COMMUNITY SHELTER UPDATE

The Community Shelter is open! We are currently serving two families. The demographics include 4 children 3 of whom are under the age of 5. Since this is new for everyone we are staggering the entry of families. We anticipate adding a third family next week.

After our first five days some of the comments from staff are that the best part is seeing the interaction between guests and volunteers. They also are seeking ways to make it feel more like home and wish we had more storage space!

We begin with 31 partner organizations. 13 of them are new to Family Promise of Waukesha County! This first week the groups who have hosted are:

Our Savior Lutheran, Oconomowoc
First Congregational United Church of Christ
Our Savior Lutheran, Hartland
Emmanuel, United Church of Christ, Dousman
St. Bartholomew’s, Pewaukee

If you still need to go through training to serve with your partner organization, begin by completing the online training:

ONLINE TRAINING

Then sign up for an in-person session. In-person training will continue to be offered for those who will be volunteering later. Sign up here:

IN PERSON TRAINING

POLL OF THE WEEK

Would living a simpler, less materialistic life would be helpful for me and impact those in poverty in a positive way?

Yes, too many things complicate my life.
Yes, my buying habits directly impacts others
Yes, my wants should not take precedence over others needs
No way. To each their own.

3. GOLF OUTING REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

The Family Promise of Waukesha County 2023 Golf Outing will raise funds to help low-income families and families experiencing homelessness. The outing involves a scramble format. The 19th Hole follows golf and includes a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, entertainment, dinner, and program including a live auction.

Our theme is: A Bed to Sleep In. Having a place to sleep is a symbol of a safe and stable home. The stability of a family is crucial to the stability of our culture and society. It is an enormous challenge for a family to have stability without a home.

A guest named Ann, when asked what was her best day at Family Promise, stated that it was her first day because she was able to see "my kids sleeping in a bed." After two months in her car, doing everything in her power to keep her family's experience of homelessness a secret, sleeping in a bed with a pillow, under the covers, being read a bedtime story and falling asleep with a roof over their head had to feel like a luxury.

No family, no child should ever have to sleep in a car or a tent. They all need a bed to sleep in.

We hope you will join us for a great day of golf, on a beautiful course, with excellent people and support an important cause. Click to learn more and/or to sign up:

2023 Golf Outing

4. WELCOME TO FAMILY PROMISE

OF WAUKESHA COUNTY

We are excited and grateful for new additions to our staff and board of trustees.

Welcome to Mattie Martinez and Kaitlin Wagner who are joining our team as evening and weekend shelter supervisors. You can read their bio on our staff page.

Mattie Martinez Kaitlin Wagner

We are pleased to announce that Ed Butte has joined the Board of Trustees. Ed became involved with Family Promise through the furniture program. He assists with the set-up of apartments. Ed wrote on his nomination form that he feels the need to help people who are in poverty in his community.

Read Ed’s bio and information about the Board of Trustees:

Kaylee Chojnacki joined our staff in March as a Case Manager. Her focus is on families in the shelter programs. You can read her bio on our staff webpage and get to know more about her in her interview with Joe Nettesheim. He may have helped her find an officiant for her wedding!

5. SPOTLIGHT ON NONPROFITS

Family Promise of Waukesha County just joined the Waukesha County Business Alliance. The alliance will provide Family Promise an opportunity to network and build relationships with businesses and other service providers.

We are also excited that one of the issues they are concerned about is workforce development and workforce housing. Their most recent newsletter Accelerate includes an interview with Joe Nettesheim in the Nonprofit Spotlight.

GIVING DAY UPDATE

Our total from Giving Day is: $ 43,858 from 63 donors

THANK YOU!

CAR REPAIR CLINIC - MAY 20 8:15AM - 12 PM

This event is sponsored by Crosspoint Church Oconomowoc.

POVERTY, BY AMERICA AUTHOR TO SPEAK- MAY 23

On Tuesday, May 23, 6:30 pm, Boswell Book Company and MPL are pleased to host an evening with Matthew Desmond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted. Desmond joins us for a conversation about his new work, Poverty, by America, a book that reimagines the debate on poverty, making a sweeping argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond-in-conversation-tickets-611447123807